At Sindawonye Primary School in the Eastern Cape, a rusty bus serves as a classroom. it is no secret that the Eastern Cape schools lacks municipal services. According to the Education Department, the public school is located on private property. In actuality, lessons take place within the old bus that is parked in the schoolyard of Sindawonye Primary School near to the R75 in Coega, Eastern Cape. According to GroundUp, the school has 79 students from grades R to 6, which is too many for its two cramped classrooms. The school relies on a borehole for water and is without power or toilets that flush.
Thobile Nqabeni, the principal of Sindawonye, says she frequently take Grade 6 students on the bus so that they may be in a quiet environment and get more attention, However monkeys frequently sneak in and steal students’ lunches. This is an underperforming school, and the Department of Education has accepted that but they are doing nothing to change it. Seven of the 79 students in the school lack birth certificates, and neither do their parents.” The principal said they feed them even though they aren’t provided with meals (by the school feeding program). She says they are now helping them in obtaining those essential document.
The only other teacher at the school is Nomakhuselo Mde said Under one roof she accommodate 14 students in Grade R, 11 in Grade 1, 13 in Grade 2, and 3 in Grade 3. Sometimes a student in Grade 4 will respond when she asked a question to a student in Grade 3. but because we want the best for these rural learners, we won’t give up. Because they were raised on farms, we don’t want to deny them an education, she explained
Malibongwe Mtima, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, says a meeting will be held at the school to talk about the next steps in response to inquiries from GroundUp. Mtima claims that The department offers services like student transportation and is aware of that school. We are not in charge of building a school on that property. We cannot even fix a fence as per the agreement with the owner because it is not our property.
According to Khula Community Development Project member Petros Majola, who advocates for children’s rights and opposes gender-based violence, the situation at the school shows that the education department is still far from meeting its goals and standards for public school infrastructure.
